2019 Audi Q5: What to check before buying

Automatic braking engages for no reason, mostly while reversing. The car senses a phantom object, jerks to a stop, and the brakes scrape. One report describes the same thing at highway speed. Rear tail light and backup light assemblies stop working. The bulbs cannot be replaced on their own, so the whole housing has to be replaced, and owners report long parts backorders. Passenger airbag warnings flicker because the occupant sensor misreads the seat. Water from rain or spills damages the comfort control and gateway modules, and one report describes a sudden loss of power in traffic.

Power steering cuts out suddenly. A steering malfunction warning tells the driver to stop, and the wheel becomes very hard to turn. Failures happen at parking-lot speeds and on the interstate. Most come early, between about 8,000 and 19,457 miles. In one case the dealer confirmed the failure and replaced the rack under warranty. A crash report describes the SUV veering off the road into a tree after driving through wet, icy slush, with electrical warnings lit afterward. Other complaints say lane keeping assist nags drivers about inattention and switches off mid-curve without warning.

Drive system faults cut speed sharply without warning. The transmission drops into a fixed gear or shifts erratically, and check engine and drive system malfunction warnings appear. Restarting the car clears the lights only for a while. These reports come at roughly 24k to 31,000 miles. A turbocharger failure that began near 48,000 miles caused hesitation and lost power until the turbo was replaced. One crash report describes the SUV left idling in park moving forward on its own into a building at 35,000 miles, with the cause undetermined.

Rear passengers wearing seat belts suffer lower back injuries in rear-end collisions. Two crash reports, covering four injured people, blame the stiff lumbar bump built into the rear seat backs for pressing into their lower backs during impact. The two reports read almost identically. The other complaint covers a buckle that will not release. It is very hard to free at first and still a struggle over time, and the replacement part costs almost $800.

Adaptive cruise control can lower its set speed after reading a roadside speed limit sign and then brake hard at highway speed, which creates a rear-end collision risk. Active lane assist issues frequent hands-off warnings even with hands on the wheel, most often on straight roads, until drivers switch it off. Dealers describe this as normal for Prestige models. One service record shows a failed turbo wastegate actuator causing overboost and a check engine light. The actuator is not sold separately, so the entire turbocharger gets replaced.

Turbochargers fail and are replaced as a whole unit, with one repair costing about $3,556. One owner confirmed that the 2019 Q5 is not covered by a turbocharger class-action settlement. Hydraulic engine mounts also wear out, with one failure reported at 45,000 miles. Another complaint describes the engine failing above 50 mph in extreme cold of -35 or below. That owner calls it an ongoing problem the dealer has refused to fix.

Rear lights fail without warning, sometimes all at once. Tail, brake, and center brake lights can all go dark on the highway at night, which raises the risk of a rear-end collision. A dealer fixed this through a technical service bulletin but charged a diagnostic fee because the car was out of warranty. Backup light faults in the right rear bumper housing require replacing the whole housing, not just the bulb, and a dealer described the problem as common.